Review by SlowRain (2005-06-21)
I've been a fan of John le Carre for a long time. I enjoy spy thrillers, and le Carre is my favorite author.

This book is about average for le Carre (which is to say that it is still better than what most other so called "spy thriller writers" can turn out).

The plot is a bit one sided, which is unusual for le Carre. The narrative is as wonderful as what we've come to expect from him.

The story centers around the death of Tessa and the investigation of who did it. However, this isn't a Whodunit kind of book. We know who did it, that's not the point. The point is Justin's discovery of how wonderful his wife really was, something he didn't take time to figure out when she was alive. Le Carre does a nice job detailing Tessa's character even though she is dead right from page 1.

As a side point, the university in Saskatchewan as described by le Carre doesn't exist.